


Soon It Will Be Morning

by admiralandrea



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, Episode Tag, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 13:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15340776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/admiralandrea/pseuds/admiralandrea
Summary: Callen tries to deal with the loss of Michelle Hanna, with some help from Anna





	Soon It Will Be Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Tag to S8E24 "Unleashed". Written for the Rare Pairings square on my Trope Bingo card.
> 
> With Callen being so close to the Hanna family, he had to have been hit really hard by Michelle's loss as well, even if he hides it from Sam on screen. This is a little story about that and is probably the most canonical thing I've written so far in this fandom.

Once Callen had dropped Sam off at the safe house where his children were waiting, he was finally able to go home himself. He’d stayed briefly to see Aidan and Kamran, making sure they both knew he was available to talk to if they couldn’t speak to their dad. Not that he had a clue what to say, but he had to offer. They both meant so much to him in their own way and it was the least he could do for his partner.

When he was home, Callen made a beeline for the bathroom, dropping his clothes to the floor as he passed his bedroom. Turning the water as hot as he could stand it, Callen turned so that the water was pounding on his back. The leap from the exploding bus combined with the earlier shot to his vest meant the muscles were aching and sore. He knew he had a huge bruise from the bullet and was just grateful it wasn’t deep enough to affect his kidney.

As the hot water pummeled his skin, Callen finally let go of the emotions he’d been keeping under tight control so that he could do what was needed during the hunt for Khaled and his partner, as well as the search for Michelle’s body. The whole thing was a crazy clusterfuck that he could still barely comprehend and he knew it had to be even worse for Sam.

Callen leaned on his arms against the wall of the shower, as the water continued to pour over him, not caring that he was crying, as he relived everything that had happened the past day or so. After a while, he slumped to the floor of the cubicle, curling up in a corner, arms around his legs and head buried as he shook and sobbed.

He wasn’t aware of the passing of time and didn’t notice when the water eventually turned cold. The next thing he knew was someone crouching in front of him and softly saying his name. A gentle hand lifted his head and he looked up into Anna’s eyes, confused and surprised to see her there.

“Anna?” he asked.

“Yes Grisha,” she agreed. He was vaguely aware it was the first time she had used his name and not just called him Callen like most other people did. “Can you stand?”

He blinked at her, still confused by her presence in his shower. She urged him to his feet and he managed to wobble upright with her holding on to him and the support of the shower wall.

“How did you get here?” he asked, as she guided him out of the cubicle and wrapped towels around him.

“Hetty called me,” she replied.

He dried himself off as he contemplated that, finally registering that she was only in her underwear, but not experiencing his usual reaction to her near-nudity. She wrapped a towel around her body as well, then led him to his bedroom. 

“Get dressed while I make tea,” Anna said. She dropped her towel and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt that had been lying on his bed.

Callen watched her head off towards the kitchen while he finished drying off, then opened a drawer to find sweats and a T-shirt. He added socks as well, before padding out to where Anna was just setting two mugs on the kitchen counter, while the tea kettle started to boil.

Crossing to the fridge freezer, Callen took out the bottle of Vodka he kept there, before taking out two glasses.

“Leave the tea, Anna,” he said.

She turned to him. “Sure you don’t want something hot?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Maybe later,” he told her. “Right now, I want to drink to Michelle.”

“Alright,” she agreed, turning off the heat on the stove, then followed him back to the bedroom.

They curled up together on the bed and he poured them both a generous measure of the Vodka.

“To Michelle Hanna, the best and brightest of the CIA, and an amazing mom and wife,” Callen said.

“To Michelle,” Anna agreed, clinking their glasses together. 

She sipped, while Callen swallowed a large mouthful of his drink. She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t say anything, just settled closer to him and Callen was grateful for that. He put an arm around her and thought about how lucky he was right now to have her in his life. He couldn’t imagine what Sam was going through and hoped he never had to. 

Turning to Anna, he began. “Let me tell you about the first time I met Michelle.”

Anna rested her head on his shoulder. “I’d like that,” she agreed and they shared a small smile as Callen began to tell her the story. Memories might be all he had left, but Callen was determined to do everything he could to ensure Michelle still lived on, for the sake of her family as well as himself.


End file.
